"Look At That Caveman Go"
One Saturday my dad walked into the house hugging a pile of 78 rpm records. There was a smug look on his face that said "look what I've got here". I spent the afternoon having that look; going through what must have been a hundred shellac discs, diligently hunting for hidden gems. I found nothing of any great interest or import. No Bill Haley. No Elvis or Buddy. Not even a Gracie (Fields) or a Tommy (Steele). The 10 inch discs were strewn across the carpet. There were just two records familiar to me. One was Mario Lanza singing "The Donkey Serenade" ( w. Rudolf Frimi and Herbert Stothart). The other was a 1926 recording of "The Laughing Policeman" by Charles Penrose (w. Mabel Penrose aka Billie Grey) . This was an early example of what was known in the music world as the 'novelty song'. D ad enjoyed listening to novelty records when they came on the wireless or TV. H e especially liked "Hev Yew Gotta Loight Boy?" by The Sin...